Winning the war: SA Film Corp justifies Glenside studios move

The South Australian Film Corporation is starting to justify its $43 million move into new studios at Glenside on Adelaide's city fringe as TV and movie projects sign up.

It has met SA Government targets for the past financial year by earning an estimated $650,000 and is set to repeat that over the next year.

The Film Corporation is currently caught up in the middle of World War I, with a mini series Anzac Girls being shot at the Glenside studios over five months.

Judy Potter of the Film Corporation said it had been a worthwhile shift from former studios at Hendon in the western suburbs.

"I know we don't have the same dollars that we put out as other states, but what we can do is through a whole range of things, attract fantastic productions like this and the studios are a significant part," she said.

Anzac Girls is using 1,200 cast and crew, part of an upsurge in work generated through Glenside for the likes of acclaimed cinematographer Geoffrey Hall.

"I've filmed in studios all around the world really and I have never come across one that has everything that you need in such a, you know, small space really," he said.

Another TV project and a movie already are booked in for next year, with more ventures expected.

As good as anywhere

TV series producer Lisa Scott is full of praise for the Glenside facilities.

"People do rely on word of mouth and the reputation of the studios and the crews are on par with anybody else in Australia," she said.

The Corporation sells Adelaide's lower cost of living compared with elsewhere when pitching for projects, as well as having suitable film locations around the city and state.

"Some of the locations we've been working on have been just these gems that get hidden in this city that I had no idea [existed], like the Migrant Resource Centre in Hindley Street, I just walked in and ... this has been here all this time, it's so beautiful," she said.

The Film Corporation is hoping the Anzac Girls shoot might be followed by Russell Crowe's Gallipoli movie next year.